Scared of Me
by Selfire
Summary: Four months after Blood of Olympus, Sandra, daughter of Aphrodite, ends up by herself on a quest for the new Labyrinth, created by Pasiphae. Alone and scared, Sandra must face her worsdt fear before returning to Camp Half-blood... And her half-brothers might not let her leave alive.
1. Introduction

**A** **b** **lond-haired** **girl was born, around the time of the beginning the Titan War. Though, technically, hers wasn't the normal birth.**  
Shane was your normal male model... Heck, he wasn't even that. He was the _owner_ of a Model company... Shane's Styles for the Naturally Beautiful. He was semi-famous, the man who could afford expensive commercials, a mansion, and lots of women. Needless to say, he wasn't your most faithful boyfriend... Part of the reason he never got married. He knew that if he got really serious about love, if he got married, he'd stay committed... And that was not something John General Shane was interested in. No, he was interested in the fling, the _sha-zam!_ the exhilaration of having complete control over his chaotic life.

He had started out as the son of two successful business people... His father owned the Model company before him, and his mother was powerful lawyer. Both had died in Shane's late twenties/early thirties, and he continued his father's footsteps... But he wouldn't get married. Of course he had the occasional child, but over ten years of business and money, he couldn't possibly get tied down with a wife! Most of his kids were living with their mothers, anyway.

However, Cassandra was a different story.

Late in his modeling years, he met a very pretty lady working in a coffee shop... A lady who was too beautiful to describe. She had dark blonde hair, the nicest shade of makeup, and her figure and everything was too beautiful for Shane. Embarrassed and frustrated, he poured out all his feelings to his friend via the phone.

"Hey." Shane stated out. "So I met this really beautiful lady working at a coffee shop."

"Okay." His friend blinked.

"And she's gorgeous."

"Mhm."

"And I don't know what to do!"

"Dude." His friend replied. "You should hire her, you idiot!"

"Oh yeah!" Shane exclaimed. "Right. I can do that. Ha-ha. Silly me! Why didn't I think of that? I'll do that right away."

"Okay. And can you pick up a pizza? I'm spending the night at your house." His friend asked.

"Did Shauna lock you out again?" Shane sighed

"Yeah."  
"Bummer. See you later." Being the cool, rich guy that he was, Shane walked right back up the the counter and flirted woth the pretty blonde lady. "Hey, I'm John Shane... I run this really famous modeling company."

"Omg!" The woman bounced on her toes. "Shane's Styles for the Naturally Beautiful? Can I get your autograph?""

"Not exactly." He winked. "But I think you'd be perfect for this open spot we have in next week's session. Here's my business card, and if you can swing by my mansion sometime tonight..." Here he winked again. If he'd payed closer attention, he would have noticed a small glowing belt holding up her tight jeans. But he was too busy studying her soft lips.

"Oh my gods." The lady exclaimed. "I'm Lyssa, by the way. I'll be there... Be sure of that, handsome." When she called him handsome, he felt weird... All tingly in his toes. It just so happened that the shoot they were doing the next week was on the Greek gods, and he had his mind on a particular role for this new lady... Aphrodite.

That night, Lyssa met Joe, Shane's friend. He knew when to leave, though, and that night one thing led to another with Lyssa and Shane...

 **Time Skip, one week**

Two hours before the shoot, Lyssa finally showed up. Smirking at all the ladies and flirting with the gents, she finally made her way to Shane, her new boyfriend. Smiling, she whispered into this ear, "Honey, I have something to show you." His heart beating rapidly, he followed her inrto his office, locking the door behind him.

"There's no easy was to tell you this." She said huskily, instantly turning him on. 'But all those Greek Mythology things? They're true. I'm Aphrodite."

"What?" He spluttered, spilling coffee everywhere.

"Really." Stripping away the Mist, she showed him her goddess-ness.

However, at this point, John General Shane began to get nervous. "Um." He began anxiously. "Won't Ares be mad and stuff?"

"Oh, probably!" She agreed cheerfully. "But, honey, I'm also pregnant." Shane spilled more coffee. "Don't worry, I'll leave after the shoot so Ares won't be suspicious. I'll send down the baby so you can raise it, okay!?"

"What if Ares finds out?" Shane wasn't happy about his amazing girlfriend anymore. Of course, he was honored beyond measure that he had caught the eye of the goddess of Love, but..

"He won't." Aphrodite promised. "Now, I've got to get onstage. Totaloo!" With a toss of her gorgeous hair, she left the room, unlocking the door and tossing him the key. He performed Ares with Aphrodite, and she was perfect with her part... Mostly because she _was_ her part. After the whole shoot was over, she bade him a cheerful goodbye before dissolving into Mist.

Months later, a little bundle appeared on his bed, a bundle with a note. When Shane walked in, doves carried it in through his window and flew back out again. The note read:

 _Hey, honey. This is from Aphrodite. Our daughter's name is Cassandra, you can call her Cass for short. When she's thirteen, you should tell her the truth about her mother and send her off to Camp Half-blood, if satyrs haven't found her already. Totaloo! Have fun raising her!_

"Can't back out now." Shane muttered. Casting a baleful look at the child who was most likely going to make his life a living hell, he turned back the covers and stared at the one-month old baby. "Hello, Cassandra. I'm your daddy."

 ** _Sup, guys? BonnieSilver888 here. This is a short story, five chapters... Ten at the most. This was one of my PJO fanfiction ideas! R &R. And don't forget to fill out the poll of my profile page!_**


	2. Found

**I think** **I was eight when I first realized something was wrong with Dad. Up until then, life was great.**

At five years old, Cassandra was living the good life. She had her dad who was really famous, a cat named Fluffball, lots of books to be read aloud to her when her dad had some spare time. She heard a lot of stories about her mom... And about all of her "aunts."

Screw this. This is _my_ life. I'm writing it like it is.

I was too young to realize that all of these "aunts" that came and went were actually all of Dad's girlfriends. They came, spent a night or two with Dad, then they left. Had I known who they really were, I would have either laughed or cried. Being a child of Aphrodite, I hated when you were together and not serious. It really got on my nerves.

But, yes. While I was getting older, I was also becoming more aware that Dad didn't have as many aunts anymore. He started acting weird. Said crazy stuff, like "I really loved her" and "why did she leave me?" He was becoming more and more unstable. He started using his money in the wrong way. In order to keep the company running, he had to give it up to his sister. That just added to his stress.

He started blaming me for his problems. Apparently I was the reason he had to give everything up. If I didn't exist, his life would still be perfect.

 _Go to hell!_ He'd scream.

 _I'm already in Hell._ I protested.

Yep. Your basic, loving, father-daughter relationship. If you think your life sucks, there's always at least three people who have it twenty times worse.

Dad wasn't able to pay on his mansion anymore. He had to start selling stuff in order to keep our easy life (which, just to be clear, was anything _but_ easy). He kept blaming me, and it got pretty rouh. My grades started dropping big-time, and it got to the point where I was being bullied at home and at school.

My dad always taught me that there's a moral to every story. In my point of view, moral to this story? Love sucks.

Okay, I may have been going a little bit overboard. But as far as I could see, dad didn't like how Mom left him. They'd had true love, he'd shout, and then she dumped him for Ares. Of course, I didn't know who Mom was, so the whole "leaving him for Ares" kind of blanked out on me. But I understood the general concept. At my middle school, girls start developing hormones for guys. They started giggling and texting and who-knows-what. Sometimes you'd find the occasional lesbian, but I was never interested in any of that. Like, who cares about guys? I was focused on my own issues.

Then, of course, in mid-term, during lunch period, when I was thirteen, I had to be approached by a _nerd_ kid. The nerd kids all wore glasses, had their own table, played _chess,_ and talked about the next test or one of the old black and white '50s shows that nobody watches.

It was a particularly hard day. My dad was acting pretty strange... and then, of course, I got a B-. I had been bullied all day and my nerves were stretched to their limit. I was small, thin, and therefore a perfect target for the big bullying groups. They had apparently spread themselves out, because at every table I tried to sit down at refused me. Finally, blinking away tears, I sat myself down in a corner.

I felt a small tap on my arm. "Hey." Said a kid. "Want to sit at at our table? You can watch the Chess championship."

I growled at the kid... then something weird happened.

The nearest cafeteria window broke open, and a bunch of doves flew in, scratching at the kid. They chased him back to his table before departing through the said window. It resealed.

Most of the kids ignored the commotion, but an older girl with crutches made her way over to me. I moved awag and scowled, but she made no attempt to come closer than ten feet away from me. "Hey." She tried.

"What do you want?" I asked wearily.

"Nothing. I just want to talk, okay? I'm Kennedy."

"Sandra." I smiled against my will, and we shook hands. She sat down and laid her crutches in between us.

"Gods, I hate these crutches." She sighed. "One sprained ankle that doesn't heal right , and bam! No cheerleading, six months of these." She glared at them.

"Sorry." I shrugged. It's not like I could do anything about it.

"You're right. Sorry for shoving a problem on you... hey, aren't you that kid with ADHD and dyslexia? Cassandra Shane?"

"Yeah." I grumbled.

"Oh. Wanna be friends? I don't have any, and by the looks of it, you don't either."

"If you don't have any friends, how come you were sitting at a table?" I shot.

"I got here earlier than anyone else." She shrugged. "I try to blend in. Hey, where do you live?"

"In a mansion." I muttered. "You?"

"Foster." She said quietly. "An old man by the name of Mr. Brunner took me in. Both of my parents died in the Giant War."

"The Giant War?" I wasn't sure I'd heard her correctly. "Urm... that's not in any of my history books."

"It just _happened_ a few months ago." She huffed. "How dense are you?"

"I'm sure that would have been on the news." I said with a growing sense of dread. "All that happened was a whole bunch of earthquakes."

"Gods of Olympus, don't you know _anything?"_ She exclaimed, her eyes wide with alarm. "Didn't your dad send you here for its high Satyr ratings?"

 _"What?"_

But now her eyes were on a group of buff boys from the football team, cracking their knuckles. Then, as one, they turned and walked towards us. Their eyes - _holy mother -_ were glowing bright red. Was it just me, or did they grow to ten feet tall?

"Oh gods." Kennedy tossed my my backpack and got to her feet pretty fast for a girl with a sprained ankle. "We've gotta move."

The bullies were twelve feet tall now, throwing cigarettes from their... hands? When i blinked, they looked less and less like cigarettes; more and more like... fireballs. And they weren't coming from their hands... they were comimg from their _mouths._ The fire alarms were ringing like crazy, and all the kids were screaming.

"What the heck is going on?" I screamed as we ran to the exit. Kennedy had left her crutches bebind, but that didn't seem to bother her. We were almost to the emergency exit now, but the fire - breathing things were right behind us, their heads brushing against the ceiling.

"The monsters." Kennedy said grimly, pulling me out of the emergency exit doorway, which promptly exploded. "They found you."


	3. Flirts, Beef, and Percy Jackson

**Nothing like your daily near-death experience to cheer you up on a bad day.**

No, seriously. After Kennedy pulling me out of a two-story window, hiding under a car (before the eighteen-wheeler crashed into it), and almost dying every five seconds, I was downright cheerful.

I had a lot of questions. Screw that... I had tons of questions. Of course, there wasn't a lot of time to answer them, seeing as there was a dozen monsters chasing us through downtown, but I needed answers. A whole bunch of monsters didn't just attack my school without a reason. And the way Kennedy tossed away her crutches... The way she ran wasn't natural. It was more as if she was wip-wop, wip-wop, like she had those new shoes that were trending at school.

"Hey!" I pulled on her arm to stop her, glaring at her. "I want answers!"

"I'm getting you to a safehouse." She gritted her teeth. "Then you'll get answers enough,"

"You... you said monsters. What _were_ those things?"

"Laistrygonians." Kennedy sighed. "Fire-breathing Canadians." She added right when I opened my mouth.

"Where's this safehouse?"

"It's on Long Island Sound."

"New York? Um, if you haven't noticed, we're in Chicago."

"Not for long." Kennedy dug a gold coin out of her jeans pocket and threw it into the street. About five seconds later, a dust cloud appeared, which turned into a smokey, dusty version of a car. "The Gray Sisters will help." Kennedy announced.

The taxi looked regular enough...except there were three seats in the front, and each of them was occupied by an old lady. "I'm traveling in a dust cloud." I said unbelievingly.

But things were about to get weirder.

Kennedy pulled me into the taxi, but one of her _feet_ came off... to reveal a cloven hoof. None of the ladies seemed surprised... but as they turned around to grin at us, I stifled a scream. None of them really had eyes... their eyelids were sunken in. But as I looked closer, the driver had an eye. That was good.

"Where to, missies?" The lady in the middle said.

"Camp Half-Blood." Kennedy said immediately. I think she somehow knew that if I said anything, it would not be intelligible.

Glancing down, Kennedy realized that one of her feet had fallen off. Shrugging, she took off her other fake foot and stuffed them both in her bag. When she caught me staring at her hooves, she muttered to herself. "What?" Taking off her baseball cap, I could just make out the tips of two horns above her blonde hair.

But I didn't have much time to ponder, because the driver lady played some jingle about putting on your seatbelt. We both did so, and then... well, the speedometer never dipped below 150 miles an hour. Whenever there was traffic, she swerved around it. When that was impossible, she turned the car into a dust cloud and we popped back into reality after it was over. We got to Long Island in about an hour or so, and they dropped us and our stuff off at the base of some strawberry fields before zooming off.

Kennedy pulled on my arm, and we walked up the hill.

First impression of the scene: Wow.

Second impression: Wow.

The top of the hill was breathtaking. There were so many cabins I couldn't count them all, and there were lots of teenagers around too. "Summer camp." Kennedy smiled, looking around. "Home sweet home." It was the end of school term, and kids were slowly filing in over the strawberry fields.

However, something seemed to occur to Kennedy. "Won't your dad be wondering where you are? Do you want to call him?"

Shuddering, I remembered the last time I saw him... so mad he was literally glowing. "I think he'll be glad I'm gone. By the way, what are you? You have hooves and horns."

"I'm a satyr, idiot." Kennedy rolled her eyes.

"But... those are myths."

"News flash: all Greek and Roman mythology actually exist. Face it, kid. You're a demigod."

"A what-who-now?"

"A demigod. Half-god, half-mortal. Your mom was probably the goddess, seeing how your dad's insane and all. Gods normally don't become a _mania."_

"A _mania._ "

"Yep. A remnant of insanity. A sort of ghost. You can ask Jason. Anyway, you go to Percy first... all the new demigods you. I'm just briefing you."

"My head is exploding."

Kennedy ignored this and did an epic taxicab whistle. Instantly, a horse galloped to us, followed by a few teenagers carrying bows.

"Whoa, back up. That's not a horse." I said with wide eyes.

"Of course it's not. It's a centaur, you dolt. Chiron," she said to the man-horse thing, "this is Sandra. Sandra, Chiron, the trainer and mostly director of Camp Half-blood."

"Wait." I blinked. Greek mythology _had_ been my best subject in school. "Are you _the_ Chiron? Trainer of Achilles and whatnot?"

"That's me." The centaur said wearily, as if tired of answering the questiokn. "Sandra, who are you parents?"

"John Shane and Lyssa Harris." I remembered. "But she left my dad after I was born."

"Of course she did." One of the teenagers said. I turned towards him.

He had blonde curly hair, a perfect smile, and a polished bow. Tilting my head, I asked a simple question. "Why?"

"In the Greek Myths, don't the gods and goddesses often fall in love with mortals? Have kids... demigods?"

"Hera killed most of them." I recalled.

"Nah, that's just Zeus's kids and whoever she really doesn't like. But Aphrodite kids like me... we're awesome." He grinned, absentmindedly brushing back some bangs. My stomach twisted into knots as he held out a hand for me to shake. "I'm Mitchell, son of Aphrodite. The senior counselor, Piper, wanted to be here... but she's on a date, with Jason." Mitchell smirked. "Somewhere romantic in the woods. Piper doesn't eat beef. Jason is a son of Zeus, by the way.

"He's still alive?" I marveled.

"Favored of Hera."

I shook his hand. "Sandra, daughter of..." I frowned. "How do you find out who your godly parent is? Do we have to take a test or something?"

Mitchell shook his head. "Nope... you should get claimed at the campfire tonight. Since we're sharing duties with Hermes, we should be able to take you into our cabin for the time being...?" He glanced at another kid.

"Um, no!" The kid complained. "You get all the good ones, Mitchell! Let Hermes have some credit, too!"

"Quit complaining, Darrin." Mitchell rolled his eyes, and I couldn't help thinking how blue-brown his eyes were.

There was a commotion a few cabins down. Another blond-haired guy - "Honestly? Why are they all blonde?" I muttered - flew in carrying a girl... Either Cherokee or Indi, I couldn't tell from that far away. Normally if I saw a guy flying at all, I'd scream, but I'd seen weirder stuff that day. I just watched silently.

"Piper." Mitchell pointed. "And Jason."

"The son of Zeus." I recalled. Up until the dude flew in (pretty sure there were no strings attached) I guess I thought that they were a huge roleplay group or something, and I just imagined the fire-breathing giants. I mean, they don't exist... Right? And at a middle school?... Forget it. But the guy just freaking _flew_ into the camp.

They landed near us and walked the rest of the way "like normal people." "Hey." Said the Cherokee girl, Piper. "I'm Piper. This is my boyfriend, Jason."

"Son of Zeus." I recalled. "Not dead. Favored of Hera. And... Something about beef."

She rolled her eyes. "Mitchell, what crazy stuff have you been feeding her?" She grinned at me. "Time for proper introductions. Piper McLean, daughter of Tristan McLean. You've heard of him? Famous actors and stuff?"

I blinked. "Yeah... I think he did a shoot with my dad once or twice. I'm Sandra Shane. Daughter of John Shane. Famous model and stuff."

"Yeah." Piper nodded thoughtfully. "So, by now you've obviously been briefed. I'll take you over to meet one of my best friends, Percy Jackson."

"See you around in the Aphrodite cabin." Mitchell called behind him as they went back to their regular duties.

Piper gave me a tour of the camp while we made our way to one of the cabins. "Each cabin is for a different god or goddess. Annabeth, daughter of Athena and Percy's girlfriend, is working on a project for a temple on Half-blood hill."

"The hill we were just on?"

"Yep. A girl named Thalia died and turned into that tree. But now we have the Golden Fleece, so she's alive and currently leading the Huntresses on a new mission. But anyway, the cabins. There used to just be cabins for the twelve major gods. But Percy and Jason have been working for awhile on getting cabins for every god and goddess."

"Yow." I said, thoroughly impressed.

As we walked to the cabin she described as Poseidon's, she outlined their adventures on the _Arge II._ I was fully expecting this bad, kick-ass guy to be waiting on the couch.. Not a guy sweating a Geometry final. But, wonder of wonders, there was a guy with black hair and sea green eyes, sweating a Geometry final. Next to him was a blonde girl with striking gray eyes, occasionally pointing out the right answers... Probably Annabeth.

After standing awkwardly in the doorway for awhile, Annabeth finally seemed to notice us. She nudged Percy and whispered into this ear. Looking up, he seemed sort of startled.

Once again, first impression: Wow.

He stood up quickly, spilling papers everywhere. Rolling her eyes and sighing, Annabeth proceeded to clean them up and stack them neatly. Pretending to ignore her, he grinned at us and stuffed his hands into his jean pockets. "Sup, guys. I'm Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon. But please, call me Perce."

 ** _Shoutouts! First goes to Apollo's Hufflepuff Girl, for being my most enthusiastic person for this story! As a reward, I will give you your own character. Next goes to Poseidon's Slytherclaw Erudite, by far the most impressive and complicated name I have ever seen on this site, for being my most enthusiastic supporter on this site. I will also give you your own character. Read and review, guys!_**


	4. Katoptris's Quest

**You'd think that the rest of the day would be normal.**

Congrats. I did too.

After the detailed version of "Greek and Roman schists!" Annabeth led me out of the cabin.

"So." She finally started. "You're famous."

I made a face. "Sure, I guess. I hate it, though. All my dad's Scandal stories and whatnot. All the people coming and going, models staying overnight..." I grimaced. "So many couples. Sometimes children, too. All working for my dad, becoming famous on their own routes."

"Must be overwhelming."

I stared at her. "You have an interesting way of putting things... But yeah, I suppose so." I nudged the ground with my toe. "It's just... my dad is supposedly really handsome - he has to be, he's a model - and when I look at pictures of mom... gods, she was gorgeous. But whenever I look in the mirror, all I see is a freak." I sighed, wondering why I couldn't shut my big mouth.

"Shut up." Annabeth said.

"What?" I demanded.

"Shut up." She repeated patiently. "Cass or Cassandra or just plain Sandra, whatever you want us to call you, you are beautiful. I have a sneaking suspicion that you may stay in the Aphrodite cabin longer than you think."

"What are you saying?" I tilted my head.

"You're catching along faster than Seaweed Brain." She muttered. I caught it, but didn't comment on it. "I mean that I think you might be a daughter of Aphrodite." She shrugged. "We'll find out tonight, anyway. First, you have to train."

"Train?"

"Yep. Remember, no killing other campers when they get annoying." Annabeth said grimly. I started and looked up in her face for signs of joking, but I couldn't find any.

"Um..."

"Believe me, it's happened before." She sighed. "First, you need weapons."

"Weapons? Like, real stab-and-your-dead weapons?"

"Yep. Thankfully, we normally only practice on dummies."

"Normally."

"Sometimes."

"Okay then." I gulped in anticipation.

Annabeth led me through the forest. "Never go in here alone." She warned. "Full of monsters and stuff."

"Monsters?" I asked nervously. "Like... the fire-breathing Canadians? Were those monsters? I mean, I lived in Canada for a few years and didn't see any of _those_."

"It's just a term." Annabeth dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "The real name is Laistrygonians, but... eh, you've got to water it down because nobody pronounces it correctly anyway. So... weapons." She picked out a sword. "Eh?"

"No." I said firmly. She shrugged and tossed it back into the shed. Then she reluctantly picked out a dagger. "Eh?"

"Um..." I held it reverently. Looking into it, I could clearly see myself... and then my reflection changed. I saw myself in a tunnel, dagger drawn - was it this dagger? It looked similar - facing a teenage-ish boy with fiery eyes, ratty jeans, a black shirt, and a leather jacket - like the person who robbed people down a dark alley. He had a bandanna around his head, like a motorcycle gang, but then he turned. I swear he was looking right at me. He spoke six words... I could hear them in my head. "Hello, sister. This is my party."

I shrieked and dropped the knife. The vision ended.

"What... the Hades... was that?" I demanded.

"That's Katoptris." Annabeth said concernedly. "Helen of Troy's blade. It showed her visions of the future."

 _Oh gods. That's my future?_

"It used to belong to Piper, but the visions stopped completely after she stabbed Enceladus."

"Enchiladas?"

"Nope. Enceladus was one of the giants that we killed in the Giant War, few months back. But... are you seeing visions?"

"Yeah..." I described the images that I saw, and the words I heard. "You're telling me that you didn't see or hear any of this?"

Annabeth shook her head, a strange look on her face. "But I think you should train more before we figure this out. Then you can go see Rachel."

"What about me?" A girl behind us asked.

"Oh my gods, Rachel!" Annabeth exclaimed, and they hugged. "You weren't supposed to come in until tomorrow!"

"Yeah, well, I got an urgent message." Rachel glanced at me. "Is this Kennedy's recruit?"

"Yep, they just rolled in this morning, via the Gray Sisters." Annabeth grinned. "Sandra, this is Rachel Elizabeth Dare, our Oracle."

"Like, the Oracle of Delphi?" I grinned and shook her hand. "Awesome!"

"I flew here from Clarion." Rachel told us. "I was told that the Labyrinth was re-opening; a sorceress named Pasiphae is re-making the lair of Daedalus?" Then she looked straight at me, and her green eyes were greener than usual. "I have a prophecy to deliver - or a mangled one, anyway. And I have news for the war council. But first, you must train, Sandra. Embrace your parentage. If you do not... well, your quest might not go as well as hoped for."

On that happy note, I began to train.

And train.

And train.

That night, everyone was gathered around for the campfire, roasting marshmallows and singing about how Grandma puts on her armor. I felt like puking, but I didn't... thankfully.

Everyone cut glances at me, as if waiting for me to do something. Like, randomly burst into flames (apparently, it's happened before) or break out in as tap dance or something the like. But I wasn't about to do either of those. I'm horrible at dancing, and I'm not to fond of being set on fire.

However, a flock of doves flew in and circled around my head five times. I was very confused when everyone pointed and whispered, because I didn't see them at first.

"Hail Sandra, daughter of Aphrodite, goddess of Love and other things." Chiron, the horse guy, announced.

Looking up, I swatted at the doves untuil they had to go away. Looking down, I saw myself dressed in one of those fancy tops and a skirt.

A skirt.

"OH MY COWS POTATOES." I screamed. _IIm in. A fricking. Skirt._

This is the worst possible thing that could happen!

Love sucks.

 **La week later**

"I'm sure you've all noticed that Rachel is here." Annabeth said.

We were all assembled in the game room of the Big House, sitting in fold-up chairs around the Ping-Pong table. It was supposed to only be senior counselors herez but for some reason I was invited. "She's been here for a week." Piper spoke up. "Right about when Sandra showed up." She nodded at me. "What's up with that?"

"I have news for all of you demigods." Rachel spoke suddenly. "A danger is coming, and the newly made Labyrinth is only the first step."

"Back up." Clarrise made a time-out gesture. "Newly made Labyrinth?"

Rachel was unable to answer this, as she promptly collapsed in her seat. I looked around. "Um..."

 _Loving daughter wanders in fear_

 _Thinking the end must be near_

 _She will go west and face the god of the pearls_

 _And should she come back, the plot unfurls._

Rachel spoke these words like a rattlesnake, her voice tripled. After she finished, she collapsed again, but this time, when Ashe sat up, her eyes weren't glowing. Oh yeah... Did I mention her eyes were glowing?

"Well, Sandra." Percy said presently. "This is a quest, should you chose to accept it. You can take along three companions."

 _Three companions. Quest. Prophecy. Fiery eyes. This is my party._ The words and images flooded my brain, making it whirl. Leave Camp Half-blood, one of the only safe places in the world for demigods, and go west facing some dumb god of pearls?

Heck, he's just the god of pearls. How bad could this be?

"Any suggestions? Kennedy?"

The satyr jumped at her name. Looking around anxiously, she began to take a nearby Coke can and chew it. "Urm... Sure?"

"Great." I said. "Any other volunteers?"

Annabeth leaned forward. "I'll go. We should drag along Clarrise too, she's had good experience with the Labyrinth."

"Yeah, sure." Clarrise sighed. Chris squeezed her hand for encouragement.

"Three companions " I clapped my hands.

"Hazel can wedge a gap in the Labyrinth for you." Chiron started.

"No, sghe can't." Annabeth countered. "She's is Canada right now, finding out more about her past. Arion's with her, but I doubt that she'll come, seeing as Frank has a surprise for her." Everyone ooh'd.

"So what can we do?" I asked.

"Leo should be back tonight." Annabeth answered. "Maybe... I don't know. Ever since he made that workshop in Missouri, he's been fixing everything. Maybe? We shall see."

Meeting adjourned.

I went to sleep in my bunk.


	5. Beauty Queen

_**Sorry for the wait, everyone! My fall schedule is crazy, on top of going to a new school... I promise to update whenever possible, please don't unfollow or unfavorite! Please R &R! Love you guys!**_

 ** _Let the story begin._**

* * *

 **A metal dragon.**

I pray to my mother for guidance, and I get a metal dragon.

The next morning, I was awoken by Piper standing over me and saying "Wake up" and scaring me half to death. As it was, I sat up too quickly and banged my nose on the windowsill. Every bunk had a small window next to it, and most of the curtains were pink (gross) but mine were purple, since I personally asked Piper. Besides, too much princess pink makes me want to puke.

Sometimes I wondered if I really belonged in the Aphrodite cabin. I don't believe in love, as a rule. All the girls are... well, _girly,_ and all the boys, as far as boys go, are gorgeous. I mean, look at my dad... he went crazy not only over love, but over the goddes of love. That kind of put a damper on my whole futuristic relationship thing.

As ling as I've been stuck in this cabin, most of the girls have been looking for a guy to pair me with. I never found anything appealing in them. Take... Jason Grace, for example. All of thr girls swoon over him, saying things like he's _perfect, omg so gorgeous,_ and stupid stuff like that. Piper, being his girlfriend, couldn't agree more. But honestly, people... lay off. I don't get crushes. Sometimes I wonder if I'm even a real daughter of Aphrodite. I'm not girly, I'm most definitely not pink, and I'm not even pretty.

Piper pulled me out of my thoughts. "Gods, are you okay? Sorry... but Leo wants you, in the forest. Kennedy and Clarisse are already there... Annabeth's outside. Says all the pink makes her want to puke."

I pulled myselfniut of bef and reached for my brush. As I looked in the mirror, though, my hair was already perfect. "What..."

"Mom." Piper grumbled. "Probably a good luck present. It wears off in a couple of days."

I turned to look under my bed to grab a pair of jeans to wear with my Camp T-shirt. What I came up with was fancy leggings and a lacy top.

"No." I told the clothes, and looked around for more. I stuffed all of my clothes from the camp store under my bed, but no matter what, my hand always grabbed that. Grumbling in protest, I accepted the clothing and looked helplessly at Piper for an explanation.

"Mom." Was her exasperated reply.

 **-TimeLapseLikeYouMeanIt-**

Following Annabeth - and Percy, as he insisted in coming along - into the forest with a pack of food, water and plain clothes wasn't nearly as fun as it sounded. The fact that it doesn't sound fun at all is exactly my point. Percy and Annabeth had their arms lovingly around each other, talking in low voices. Percy's voice rose every once in awhile, but reassurance from Annabeth calmed him down. When we were crossing the river, Percy's anxiety spiked again and the river rose to great heights, but we were all okay. We got drenched, though - Percy, in the other hand, was perfectly dry.

Finally, we came upon the daughter of Ares and Kennedy, who were standing in the middle of the forest. In front of them was a scrawny, dirty boy working with one round object and one circular object.

"Leo!" Annabeth cried, running to hug him. Percy shoo his hand, grinning.

"Annabeth! Aquaman!" Leo returned the gesture. "Hey, it's been a while! Business is booming, man! I had to leave Calypso behind, keep it moving!" He eyed me. "I haven't seen this one before."

"Sandra... this is Leo, son of Hephaestus." Percy beamed. She's ..."

"Another Beauty Queen, I see." He beamed at me.

My heart went ka-thump.

"Dude, I'm not even pretty." I protested.

"You're a Beauty Queen, and that's all I can say. "

My heart turned a somersault.

"What are you doing? Can I help?" I asked, stepping forward. "I love working with tools." Quite true... Another reason why I wasn't fit for Aphrodite.

"...okay." Leo relented. "Can you sing?"

"Yes?" I said, though it was more of a question.

He connected two wires and placed the circular device - which had a bunch of circles on it - on a large rock. It stuck to it like duct tape. "Stopped by the Roman camp on the way here." He murmured to Annabeth and Percy. "Hazel gave me a few pointers and a wee bit of magical help." Turning to me, he nodded. "Sing!"

I had no idea what to sing, so I started off with an old railroad song. Leo's eyes widened. "Hey! That originated from Texas! How'd you learn that?"

"Got a few people from Texas, swining in for my grandads show." I remembered. "Learned a lot from them. Your Texas accent must have triggered it."

Leo cast a glance at the circular device, glowing faintly. "Go on!" He urged.

I kept singing and singing until finally I had to stop. "Any luck?" I asked.

The rock cracked. My sense of reality tipped over as the rock seemed to shimmer until it was a doorway with stairs leading down into the gloom.

Annabeth turned pale." An entrance to the Labyrinth in Camp Half-Blood?"

"I harnessed a tunnel to this thing." He patted the circular device. "Hazel helped. I just have to slide and hook it up somewhere, and I can get in or out of the Labyrinth, real simple. This entrance will disappear as soon as I give this to you." He pointed to the device.

"But... how?" Percy stammered.

"Easy." Leo shrugged. "This thing has the symbol of the Labyrinth, right? Remember that triangle Daedalus thing you and Percy told me about? This is basically the same thing, only his time you're carrying it around with you. That reminds me... don't lose it."

"Couldn't we somehow gain access to the string thingie?" I wondered.

Annabeth, Clarisse, and Percy exchanged dark looks. "Nope." Clarisse finally said. "But that dagger of yours might tell us the future about where we're headed."

I unsheathed the blade. For a moment it only showed me my reflection, but soon enough I saw us walking down the stairs, Kennedy in back holding the symbol. I saw us get lost, and reach a rectangular room with the red eyes watching us. I saw rows of undead marching, and finally... _this is my party._

I swallowed dryly. "Nothing useful."

"Is that... oh, hey." Leo grinned. "Katoptris! I thought it stopped working!"

"For Piper." Annabeth corrected. "Maybe her purpose with it was done."

Leo grinned at me. Then I realized he was grinning at something _above_ me. I turned slowly to see a great, big, metal nose.

I screamed and ran over to Leo. "What...the...fricking...universe...is...that?"

"Hey, that's just Festus saying hello!" Leo ran over to the metal dragon and patted his head. "He's the only reason I'm still alive."

Percy and Annabeth, of course, exclaimed over him. I cautiously patted his head before remembering why we were here.

"Hey, guys." I glared at everyone. "Nice chitchat reunion, but we have a quest here!" Not to be daunted, I walked towards the rock. The moment I put my foot on the stais, my sense of reality shifted again. I gulped. "Perfectly safe. Come on!" I was excited for my first quest, but not overly excited to meet the red eyes.

Annabeth hugged Leo goodbye, then kissed Percy... long enough flr it to get awkward. They murmured in each other's ears, then Annabeth followed my descent down the stairs. Clarrise followed after, then Kennedy. Leo dksconnected the wires and tossed it to me. "Be safe! Be careful! Be-" the entrance closed.

We were on our own in the Labyrinth.

* * *

 ** _Please, please please fill out the poll on my profile page!_**


	6. The Labyrinth

**We made it ten feet before we almost died.**

First there was simply getting down the stairs, which was very tiresome. It was spiraling, so after awhile we used our shields to slide down the rest of the stairs. It was like riding a drunk horse.

After that interesting experience, we walked for a little while. "Where are all the monsters?" Clarisse wondered. "There were lots under Daedalus's control, and now the Labyrinth's following the orders of an evil sorceress. Also, how long have we been here? Our time, it's only been about ten minutes, but in the real world.."

Unfortunately, we got the first answer first. With a battle cry, ten Earthborn (is there such a thing as Labyrinth-born?) emerged from the walls. With a defiant yelp, Kennedy, who was closest to them, drew her knife and impaled one in the forehead. It was the wrong kind of knife - a butter knife - but it apparently still hurt. She stuck it in all the way to the hilt, and the monster collapsed in agony. Rolling my eyes, I stabbed it in the gut. It dissolved into dust and butter knife.

Kennedy picked it up and drew her other butter knife. "Who wants to be the next monster with a migraine!" She challenged the remaining Earthborn.

The other nine spurred into action, charging us. Three made their way towards Kennedy and I, who were trapped against the wall. Lo and behold, the walls started closing in.

"Run!" Annabeth yelled. We ran away from the walls, which promptly began to close faster,. Annabeth taing the lead, we took a right turn, then a left curve, and then she leaped like a hurtle jumper over a small ant hill. Kennedy in front of her did the same. Clarisse, however, wasn't so lucky. She leaped over the ant hill, but the floor she landed on lightly crumbled underneath her, opening up into a chamber lit by candles. I, unable to stop in time, ended up leaping in after her.

"Ow!" I exclaimed, hopping on one foot. "Ow! That really kind of hurt!"

"What did you expect, leaping like an idiot into this place." She snapped. "Here, hurry up, I have some rock-climbing stuff in my bag..."

I, however, was unable to move. On the side of the wall, red eyes appeared, following my every step. The moment I met those eyes, I crouched into a ball, seeing a vision I really didn't want to see.

A boy, one or two years older than me, was facing an invisible god. _Love is no flowery softness! It is hard work... a quest that never ends._

"I had a crush on Percy." The boy spat. "That's the truth. That's the big secret."

"Sometimes it makes you incredibly sad." Said the now visible god.

I tore my eyes away from the red eyes. I somehow knew that what I had seen was the god of love, facing Nico di Angelo.

 _"Even the son of Hades could not withstand his power."_ Said the voice I had heard in my knife. _"What will you do when your test comes?"_

I shut my eyes tightly and sat huddled there, shaking. The next thing I heard was a familiar voice. "Hey, hurry up. I'm already up here. Good news and bad news."

I srood up on shivering legs and looked up. Clarisse held my pack and a rope, looking down into the chamber from the floor of the Labyrinth.

I heard the unmistakable sound of a bow being drawn taut. She knit her eyebrows upon seeing my worried face. "Are you alright?" She asked.

"Yeah... I guess." I shrugged. Grabbing onto the rope, I crawled up onto solid ground. The floor solidified. The chamber was gone.

"Where are the others?" I asked.

"That's the bad news." Clarisse pointed to the wall in front of us.

"I don't get it."

She sighed. "The tunnel they went through is gone."

"Oh. What's the good news?*

" We're alive. We have food. And at least we're not alone... We have each other to keep us sane.*

The arrow flew. I looked around, trying to adopt it, but I didn't see it. I tilted my head. "Did you hear that?"

Clarisse tilted her head. "Sandra... What are you hearing? There's nothing here."

I blinked. Was I going insane already, after two hours? "Um... I thought I heard an arrow or something. It's gone now, though."

Clarisse frowned. "Still don't hear it... Oh." She blinked, then looked at her watch. The hands of the clock whirred around, at no particular place. Finally, they broke.

She cursed under her breath. "Great."

I yawned. I didn't know what time it was or, or maybe what day it was, but I was tired. I tried to hide it, but Clarisse noticed. "I'll take first watch." She grumbled, and I collapsed into my pack.

_.-._

My dreams were jumbled. I was looking at a picture of mom, then mom turned into Kennedy, who scowled at me and raised her buyer knife. Then she turned into Clarisse, looking at the floor, who mumbled some gibberish about love. When she looked up, she had the red eyes that tormented me in my knife.

The dreams ended. I shot up off the floor, sweating. I glanced at Clarisse, who was sitting cross-legged, staring at the wall. She looked at me.

"My watch?" I asked.

"Two hours." She was asleep in an instant.

I sat there with my dagger, waiting for the two hours to be up. I sat by the wall, sighing. I had never been more bored. Glancing at Clarisse, I felt strange. I sort of wanted to lay her head on her pack, instead of the floor. _You idiot._ Said my sensible sideside. _Why in the world would you do that?_

 _Shut up._ I told my sensible side.

Quickly, and looking intently at Clarisse, I put her head on my pack. I felt like a sister. I had always wanted siblings.

At about the one hour mark, I heard a strange sound and shook Clarisse awake. She groaned. "Already?"

"Do you hear that?" I heard a sort of sniffling.

Clarisse knit her eyebrows. "That knocking? "

I hadn't noticed it before, but there was a faint thumping, getting louder and louder. I grimaced. "What the..."

"It's coming from the tunnel." Clause see her sword and pointed behind us. "I don't like it. Can we move these rocks?"

I ran over to the ducks and shoved. They moved, a little bit, so I shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

The thumping got closer. Together we pushed and shoved until the rocks crumbled away. Unfortunately, there was someone waiting for us. It was a teenage boy similar to the one I had seen in my knife, bit not quite - maybe brother?

"Sister!" The boy grinned, which I could tell was not genuine.

Clarisse stared unbelievingly. "D-d-Deimos?" She asked in amazement.

"It has been awhile, no?" He shrugged. "Where's your boyfriend, Percy Jackson?"

I blinked. What was _that_ all about?

"He's not my boyfriend!" Clarisse growled. "He has a girlfriend, Annabeth Chase!"

Deimos chuckled and looked at me. His red eyes glared, making me back away. Waves of terror crashed over me. I tried to place the name _Deimos,_ but nothing came to mind.

"Stop it!" Clarisse striped on front of me. "I'm leaving." She turned around, and I followed her, but we were met by the exact same teenager I saw in my knife.

"Phobos." Clarisse growled, but she looked slightly nervous. "What is the meaning of this?"

I didn't get to hear the answer. Phobos's red eyes met mine, and I collapsed.

 _ **Don't forget to R &R, guys! And check out the poll on my profile page!**_


	7. Scared of Me

**Ow**.

When I woke up, Clarrise and I were sitting on the floor, our hands handcuffed to the wall behind us. I was next to Clarisse... a little too close. I tried to scoot away, but I was held fast. I shot a worried glance at Clarisse, but she seemed fine. When she turned to look at me, I could see that she had a nasty bruise on her forehead.

"Gods, are you okay?" I whispered. Silent, because I wasn't sure where the red eyes would pop up from.

"Fine." She snapped. Then she stretched her fingers to hold my hand, sending electric bolts up my arm. I hadn't felt such a simple, compassionate gesture that I had felt from my dad... before he... _changed._ "We'll get of of this, Sandra." Clarisse promised. "Do you believe me?"

I looked into her eyes, not blinking. "How could I not?" I asked. "You're a hero."

A slight flush crept across her face. She opened her mouth to respond, but a figure emerged from the wall. Phobos.

"Hello, sister." He adressed Clarisse with a smirk. "How is your boyfriend, Chris?"

 _Your boyfriend._

The words slapped me like a fish. Clarisse had a boyfriend? I had never seen him around camp before, though... the Aphrodite cabin never whispered about Clarisse and Chris. How was I supposed to know? Why did I even care?

Clarisse gritted her teeth. "He's in the Isles of the Blest, or he better be. You know as well as I do that he died in the Giant War."

I caught my breath. He died? I didn't know this! How sad!

"Awwwww, poor sis." He said with a fake sympathetic look. "The one you nursed back to health, who said he loved you... Dead."

"Stop it." Clarisse hissed. But I offhandedly noticed that she didn't meet her brother's eyes. Why?

Phobos bent down and lifted Clarisse's chin up, so she had to look into his eyes. She held eye contact for a moment, then started screaming. As soon as Phobos pulled away, she buried her face into her knees. "Whatever. You don't scare me, Phobos."

"I'm sure." He said sarcastically. Then he turned to me. "What are you scared of, child of Aphrodite? Everyone's scared of something. I'll find out, you know." Terrified, I was determined not to look into his eyes, afraid of what I'd see. I felt those tortuous glares burrowing into my flesh, consuming my bones with... curiosity?

Yes, curiosity. To see what made Clarisse scream. To see what made her strength abandon her. To give Phobos a punch in his handsome nose.

 _Handsome?_ I asked myself sarcastically. _Yeah, like that's going to happen._

 _Yes, handsome,_ I replied. _Annoyingly handsome, to be sure. Don't you look, Sandra... don't you look..._

Yet I was looking. Scared of what I would see in the persistent eyes, glaring at me. And scared of what I would see reflected back at me. And then I knew there had been a mistake. A song the Aphrodite girls giggled about popped into my head... (girls, they can't resist a bad boy) but in that moment, I knew they didn't understand. They liked the catchy tune, the overall picture. But the meaning of the words - not at all. Phobos... he was the definition of a _bad boy._ Meeting his eyes, I felt a spark of fear. I was absolutely terrified.

Then he laughed, his sly bass voice making me shiver. "Oh, that's so simple." He spread his arms out wide. "This is my party."

He stared into my eyes, and I felt fear - true fear. I thought I had felt fear when dad turned into - well, whatever Kennedy called it, I felt fear facing the monsters, I felt fear (or was that revulsion?) stepping into the Aphrodite cabin... but this... it ignited my bones. As he looked at me, looked into my eyes, I felt as if every secret, every fear, everything I had ever known that had caused me the slightest shiver was exposed. And in that moment, I was taken away.

Suddenly, I was at school, just after second period. I was taking out my books for Spanish and science lab, just about to walk away when I feel a tap on my shoulder.

Collin. A boy from a grade above me, he was everything a girl would want... tall, funny, humurous, and quarterback on the football team. He was single, green eyes and blonde hair. Every girl had a crush on him at one time or another. Even I did - a small, tiny one. It scared me - knowing he could tell me to do anything and I would do it. I hated getting nervous around him, hated the butterflies in my stomach and the stutters in my speech. I hated them all, because they scared me.

"Hey." He said, his smooth tenor making all reasonable thoughts scatter. "Um... Sandra..."

"Y-you know you... my name?" I asked, pinching the back of my neck. Stutters.

"Yeah, of course. You might want to close your locker... your stuff might fall out." As always, I did what he said... without question.

"So..." I tried to keep up the conversation.

"Yeah." He scratched the back of his neck. "Erm... so, I've had a crush on you since second grade. Want to go to the dance with me?" His soft green eyes pleaded. I couldn't resist.

 _This is wrong,_ a little voice in the back of my head said.

 _But it feels so right._

"I-I like you too." I said, butterflies twirling.

We drew closer together. He leaned his head down, and our lips met.

 _This is wrong,_ the voice said more insistently.

"Want to be my girlfriend?" He whispered into my ear.

That's when I knew. When I knew exactly why I was afraid of a simple crush.

I had pushed it away, but fear came hurtling back, making me scream. I backpedaled down the hallway, screaming as I tried to put distance between me and Collin.

"Is - is it something I said?" Collin called, disappointment flooding his eyes.

I looked away. I couldn't answer. I had to go. I was probably late for Spanish... and I just couldn't...

When I finally reached the Spanish classroom, I was late - five minutes had passed since the session began. I meekly slid into my seat.

"Well, then, Miss Sandra." The Spanish teacher said. I never understood it, but she had never liked me. "Repeat the phrase on the board correctly, or I'll have you in detention for a week."

I looked at the phrase - and I couldn't do it.

The phrase was _te amo,_ I love you. In that split second, I felt Collin's lips on my own, heard his offer. I felt the "love" from my father. I heard the fluttery wings of doves. And I collapsed to the floor in a heap, screaming. Wishing the floor would open and grant me a quick death.

Then I opened my eyes.

* * *

Phobos stood over me, smirking. I was still screaming, and Clarisse was silently sobbing, her face in her hands but no tears.

"Love." Phobos said with satisfaction. "You might as well be scared of yourself, daughter of Aphrodite."

Scared of Me. What a freak.

"What do you want, Phobos?" Clarisse demanded.

"Must I always want something?" He smirked. "Revenge, if you must know. You and your upstart sidekick, Percy Jackson, made a little mess. But while Percy didn't volunteer - well, at least we have Annabeth and Kennedy in our clutches."

I screamed and restarted my crying. Clarisse wrapped her arms around me in a seemingly emotional gesture, but I tried to scoot away. She growled. "Hold - still." She muttered.

I set up another scream, but then I realized... Clarisse was free. Her arms were behind me. To anyone in front of us, she was just laying her head on my shoulder. But behind us...

A click. I could move my arms. Clarisse shifted... and my legs were free.

"Now!" She shouted, and as one, we ran on either side of Phobos, who had not been expecting an attack. I rammed my knee into his groin while Clarisse kicked his side. Together, we drove him against the wall. We had no weapons - Deimos was holding them on the other side of the wall - but my fear was making way for a whole lot of anger.

Phobos swallowed dry. "We have the keys to the maze." He growled. "Worse things await you than me."

Clarisse looked at me. "Still got that nail polish?"

It had completely deserted my mind, but Clarisse had given me a pack of purple nail polish, down in that chamber. I had stashed it into my pocket, but I dug it out and handed it to her. Unscrewing the cap, she poured a little onto his forehead. The god slumped.

"He's out cold." Clarisse tossed it back to me, the lid safely on. Putting it back in my bag, I watched Clarisse's narrow face of concentration. She studied the wall, hopping back and forth between feet, until she slammed her full weight against the wall. It cracked, slowly crumbling. She blew some stray hairs out of her face and slammed against the wall again, and it gave in.

Deimos didn't seem surprised to see us. "There you go." He handed us back our weapons. "Your friends are fine... I had to terrorize them into cooperating... honestly, they're both wimps... yep, there's the exit. I hope you enjoyed your stay."

I wasn't one to let opportunity slip. "Where are the keys to the maze?" I demanded.

"Fear and terror." Deimos smiled - unnaturally in the odd, flickering light. "Excellent combination, don't you think?"

I was about to respond with something smart, like _what's the difference?_ but then the world turned sideways, and we free fell towards the exit. There was a loud _floom,_ and we were through - but we kept falling. Finally, Clarisse pulled me close and kissed my cheek.

"If we don't get out of this..."

There was a louder _floom,_ and I blacked out.


End file.
